Napkin holder



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///.'s Ator'neys United States Patent Ofifice 3,@bb,825 Patented Dec. 4, l 9&2

3,066,825 NAPKHN HOLDER Eliot Sane, Albany, N.Y., assignor to Sane Brothers, Inc., Albany, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 13, Hell, Ser. No. 62,421 4 Claims. (Cl. 221-59) This invention relates generally to holders for napkins and particularly to a napkin holder designed for use on a table or counter surface to dispense paper napkins.

In restaurants, lunch counters and the home, paper napkins are frequently used. In order for such napkins to be of maximum use they must be readily accessible so that persons desiring to-use the same can obtain them immediately. Also, when napkins are disposed for use they must be maintained in orderly fashion.

For the most part, napkin dispensers have been cumbersome to use and unpleasant in appearance.

The invention herein disclosed has as its principal object the furnishing of a napkin holder which is light in weight and smooth in operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a napkin holder which is pleasant in appearance and economical to manufacture.

A further object of this invention is to provide a napkin holder which will dispense napkins singly and which Will operate without care over long periods of time.

A napkin holder embodying the invention and the man ner of using the same is described herein with references to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a napkin holder constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention with portions theereof broken away to disclose the inner structure thereof;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of shown in FIG. 1 with portions thereof a supply of napkins positioned therein;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in the direction of the arrows as indicated in FIG. 1, showing in detail the structure by which the front cover of the napkin holder is maintained in position; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded segmental view of the napkin holder illustrating the means for engaging the front plate to the remainder of the assembly.

A napkin holder constructed in accordance with the the napkin holder broken away and teachings of this invention is shown in FIG. 1 and indicated generally therein as well as in the remaining figures by the numeral 10. Napkin holder Ill consists of a unitary box-like structure indicated generally in the figures by the numeral 11 and a front cover plate 12' which is designed to snap into position in front of structure 11 to form the external portion of the napkin holder.

The unitary structure or box-like member 11 consists essentially of a back member which is substantially rectangular in configuration and which is formed to have a configuration closely approximating the configuration of a napkin of the group of napkins to be placed therein. The back member is indicated in the drawings by the numeral 13 and has projecting perpendicularly therefrom in a forward direction toward the viewer in FIG. 1 a top member 1 4-, bottom member 15 and two side members indicated in the figures by the numerals l6 and 17, respectively. The top member 14- is formed with an arcuate notched portion in the forward periphery thereof. The notched portion is symmetrical about the center of the top member 14 and is indicated in the figures by the numeral 14-. An ornamental flange 18 extends along the bottom and front edges of the side members and further extends along the front edge of the top member including the arcuate notched portion 14. This ornamental flange 18, in addition to providing ornamentation to the napkin holder, also provides additional strength along the edges. It should be noted that the bottom member 15 engages the side members slightly above the peripheral edge Whereat flange l3 lies. Thus, when napkin holder 10 is supported by an underlying surface, flange 18 alone is in contact with the underlying surface.

Each of the side members 16 and 17 is provided with two guide plates on the internal surface thereof. The guide plates provided on side member 17 are indicated by the numerals l9 and 26 in the figures and the guide plates are parallel to one another and extend from the vicinity of the front edge of the side member to the vicinity of the rear edge. Likewise, side member 16 is provided with guide plates 21 and 22 which lie parallel with one another and face guide plates 19 and 2%. Thus, in the figures it is seen that guide plate 21 faces guide plate 19 and guide plate 22 faces guide plate 26. Each of the guide plates is provided with a guide projection extending longitudinally of its respective plate and terminating at the rear end of the plate at the back member 13. Also each of the guide projections terminate at the forward end thereof in protruding members which form with its respective guide member a perpendicularly or substantially perpendicularly inwardly projecting surface. Thus, in the figures, guide member 19 is formed with guide projection 23 and protruding member Likewise, guide member 26 is provided with guide projection 25 and protruding member 26. On the internal surface of side member 16, guide member 22 is provided with guide projection 27 and protrusion 23 and guide member 21 is provided with guide projection 29 and protruding member 30.

Immediately in front of each of the protrusions 24, 26, 28 and 3% a vertical notch is provided in the respective guide member. Thus,'guide member 19 is provided with vertical notch 19, guide member 26 is provided with vertical notch 20, guide member 21 is provided with its vertical notch, not shown, and guide member 22 is provided with vertical notch 22. The use of these notches will be clear as the description of the device is completed below. For the moment, however, it is sufficient to recognize that such vertical notches are provided and that each notch has immediately behind it one of the protrusions which extends inwardly.

Additional guide plates are provided on the inner surface of the top member. These guide plates or members are indicated by the numerals 31 and Eland each extends substantially from the vicinity of the front of the top member to the rear edge thereof. In this embodiment, guide members 31 and 32 are triangular in cross sectiong however, this configuration is not essential. It is necessary only that the guide members extend on the inner surface of the top member from the front edge thereof to the rear edge. A supporting sliding plate 33 having substantially the same configuration as the back member is provided Within the container fl and is maintained therein by utilizing edge notches or recesses which correspond to the projecting guide surfaces so that the support member 33 is maintained substantially parallel to back member 13 and can be slidably moved along the guide projections from the back member 13 toward the front of container 11 or in the other direction from the front to the back. The sliding support plate 33 is yieldingly urged toward the front of container if by means of circular spring 34 which is fastened at one end by fasteners 35' to the inner surface of back member 13 and fastened at the other end by fasteners 36 to the rear surface of the support plate 33.

Protrusions 24, 26, 28 and 30 provide front stop means, more specifically denoted as limit stops, which restrain the sliding plate at the front extremity. The spring and fasteners 35 and 36 therefor provide stop means at the speasae rear of the container preventing the sliding plate from engaging the inner surface of the rear member. Cover member 12 is provided with an inwardly facing channel constructed to engage and receive therein the front edge of bottom member 15. The channel is designated by the numeral 37 in the figures and extends the width of the front cover 12. The bottom member 15 being raised above an underlying surface due to the engagement of the underlying surface with the lower edges of the side members allows sufiicient space beneath the bottom member 15 so that the cover member does not touch an underlying surface when the napkin holder is supported thereon. The cover plate 12 has a height and width substantially the same as the height and width of the back member 13 and is provided with outwardly extending projections like projection 40 on the side edges thereof constructed for insertion within the vertical slots formed in the guide members provided on the internal surface of the side members. In the figures, the projection 40 to be received in the vertical notch is clearly illustrated The remaining projections are identical with projection 46. The front cover, therefore, is designed to be maintained in position with respect to the remainder of the napkin holder by inser-tion of the projections in the respective notches and the insertion of the front edge of bottom member 1% in channel 37. The front cover is formed with a symmetrical notched-out portion 43 which has an ornamental flange thereon. Notch 43 is provided beginning at the upper edge of front cover plate 12 and is formed to cooperate with notch 14' to provide an opening whereby one can remove a napkin 44 as illustrated in FlG. 2 from within the napkin holder.

In using the napkin holder which is the subject of this invention, the cover plate 12 is first removed from the remaining portions of the napkin holder. Since in its preferred form the cover and the remaining portions, with the exception of the spring, of the napkin holder are formed of a resilient material, such as a plastic material, the front cover can be snapped out of position since upon applying pressure thereto the resiliency of the material will allow the projections to remove themselves from the vertical slots and allow for easy removal of the cover plate. After the cover plate has been removed, a group of napkins is placed within the container 11 with the rearmost napkin having a surface flush against the forward surface of sliding plate 33. The group of napkins and sliding plate 33 are pushed rearwar-dly against the action of spring 34 and the front cover 12 is snapped into position. Since the material used is a plastic material the sliding plate 33 will easily move on the guides provided therefor. After the napkins are within the container one desiring to dispense or obtain a napkin from the holder need merely reach the forwardmost napkin through the notches formed in the front cover and the top member and withdraw the napkin from the holder. Upon withdrawal of a napkin the remainder of the napkins will be forced forwardly by the spring 34 so that as long as a single napkin remains between the sliding plate 33 and front cover plate 12 the single napkin will be readily accessible from without the napkin holder. After all of the napkins have been removed from the napkin holder the cover plate 12 is removed therefrom by snap action and an additional group of napkins placed in the napkin holder. The cover is then replaced and the napkin holder is ready for use. Thus it is seen that I have provided a napkin holder which is easy to use and economical to manufacture. The use of such a napkin holder will enable the user to remove individual napkins when it is de sired and have readily available additional napkins.

Thus, among other, the several objects in the invention as specifically aforenoted are achieved. Obviously, numerous changes in construction and rearrangement of parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

I claim:

1. A napkin holder for dispensing napkins, comprising a box-like member, the front open end of said box-like member having a resilient cover member removably secured therewith by projections from the sides of said cover member engaged and received within 'complemental slots formed within the internal surfaces of side members of said box-like member, a sliding plate guided in its reciprocation within said box-like member by guide projections formed on the internal surface of said box-like member, said guide projections engaging complemcntal recesses formed at the lateral surfaces of said sliding plate, protrusions formed on the sides of said box-like member and extending inwardly in said box-like member, said sliding plate being restrained from further forward movement upon abutting said protrusions and a spring secured by fasteners to the rear portion of said sliding plate and to said box-like member, said spring yieldingly urging said sliding plate forward and said fasteners rest-raining said sliding plate from further rearward movement upon abutting said fasteners.

2. The subject matter as claimed in claim 1, wherein said box-like member has a back wall of substantially the same height and width as said cover member and said sliding plate.

3. The subject matter as claimed in claim 1, wherein a notch is provided in the forward periphery in the top member of said box-like member symmetrically arranged relative to the notched out portion formed in said cover member to provide access to the napkins stacked in said box-like member between said sliding plate and said cover member.

4. The subject matter as claimed in claim 1, wherein a flange is provided on the front open end of said boxlike member for purposes of structural rigidity.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATLS PATENTS 340,355 Ramser Apr. 20, 1886 380,877 Fellows Apr. 10, 1888 436,052 Deming Sept. 9, 1890 920,632 Oliver May 4, 1909 1,362,449 Teall Dec. 14, 1920 1,570,182 Page Jan. 19, 1926 2,080,023 Zakos May 11, 1937 2,602,013 Amerslav July 1, 1952 2,852,158 Jones et al. Sept. 16, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 401,090 Great Britain Nov. 9, 1933 725,950 Germany Oct. 2, 1942 

